Re: When Charity Saved Rome

krazy kaju — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:27:34 GMT

That's interesting. Today I had a passing thought about how a free market would respond to a terrorist attack similar to 9/11, and how this could be used to combat pro-war conservatives. I just thought: "If, as conservatives like to claim, waging war in Iraq is really that important to national security, wouldn't all of those 'pro-market' conservatives agree that people with an interest in national security (practically everyone) would voluntarily pay for such a war, without the need for taxation?" IIRC, Wolfowitz made the claim that the Iraq war could be waged off of profits made from Iraqi oil. If this really were the case, wouldn't oil companies gladly take over and stabilize Iraq by themselves if we allowed them to?

I suppose this example of Rome is similar in that many wealthy Roman merchants and farmers relied on trade across the Mediterranean, so they were willing to fund a war against Carthage for the security of their investments.

When Charity Saved Rome

Jonathan M. F. Catalán — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:53:06 GMT

I just published a blog article (When Charity Saved Rome) on an interesting event during Roman history. I thought some people here would be interested, as it describes when the Roman Senate could no longer afford to build a new fleet (she had already lost two) to wage war on the Carthaginians. The State had to fall back on the "patriotism and generosity" (according to Polybius) of her wealthier citizens to fund the construction of a third armada.

It's not a perfect example of defense in a free market (well, for that it is probably a horrible example, to be honest), but it is an example of the motivation private citizens can have for their own defense.

History

Re: When Charity Saved Rome

When Charity Saved Rome